Center Grove girls move past Braves

<p>For the most part, defense dominated Tuesday’s Johnson County tournament showdown between Center Grove and Indian Creek. The host Braves, though, had no answers for Ella Thompson or Mary Wilson.</p><p>Thompson scored 19 points and Wilson added 18 off the bench as the Trojans pulled away for a 49-22 victory.</p><p>Center Grove (2-2) will face Edinburgh in a Thursday semifinal at Greenwood.</p><p>Wilson had been starting at the beginning of the season for the Trojans, but coach Kevin Stuckmeyer decided to make a lineup change after back-to-back losses, inserting Emily Rake for Wilson, and it paid dividends.</p><p>&quot;We just think Mary gives us a spark off the bench that can give us some juice when things aren’t going well,&quot; Center Grove coach Kevin Stuckmeyer said. &quot;So we tried to just mix that up, and I think it worked out well.&quot;</p><p>Both teams came out of the gate slowly at the offensive end, with the Braves up 3-2 more than halfway through the first quarter. But Wilson came in and delivered a rebound bucket with 3:31 to go in the period, sparking a 10-0 run that put Center Grove ahead to stay.</p><p>Thompson and Wilson each had a 3-pointer during that spurt, and those two as well as Claire Rake each hit a pair of the Trojans’ six first-half treys.</p><p>&quot;Once I start hitting, it just gets me in a positive mindset, so I’m going to keep hitting them,&quot; Wilson said.</p><p>Center Grove went into the half up 26-15, with a gritty effort down low from Caitlyn Snyder (six points on three putbacks) keeping Indian Creek within shouting distance.</p><p>The Trojans didn’t let the Braves (2-2) stay close for much longer. Thompson opened the second half with a 3-pointer, a steal and a layup to stretch the margin to 16, and her 11 third-quarter points helped make it an 18-point game going into the fourth.</p><p>Wilson scored 10 points in the final period to put the game away, as Center Grove limited Indian Creek to just seven points in the second half — and only a single free throw in the fourth period.</p><p>&quot;We were looking too much at the ball and we were getting back-cut really easily, so we needed to be up the line and talk more defensively,&quot; Wilson noted. &quot;I think that was our biggest issue, and we fixed it.&quot;</p>